Peace Corps Journals / Morocco / all updates

A Full Heart

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:19:00 +0800

(Morocco / oclynn in morocco)
I feel like I need to capture these feeling while they're fresh. While I realize that someone else may see my words this really is my personal journal to reflect back on this experience I'm so fortu ...
0 reads

Todra Gorges

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:12:00 +0800

(Morocco / Anna in Africa)
Morocco is a land of contrasting landscapes. It has the Sahara a mediterranean climate up north and several sets of mountain chains (one of which I live in.) It also has a beautiful gorge a few hour ...
7 reads

Desert Oasis and Camel Trek

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:42:00 +0800

(Morocco / Anna in Africa)
This weekend I got to go on a camel trek into the Sahara and visit friends in their desert oasis home. Here are some of the pictures from my adventure.These are our guides getting the camels ready to ...
7 reads

"He who says the soup is cold puts ...

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0800

(Morocco / The Whatchamacallit)
“He who says the soup is cold puts his hand in it.” - From Moroccan Arabic “لي قال الحريرة باردة يدير يدو فيها” or “li gal lhrira brda idir ido fiha” Meaning: ...
0 reads

Wizard of Wizarat

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:24:00 +0800

(Morocco / oclynn in morocco)
OK so I’m taking a bit of language license. The Minister of the Ministry of Tourism and Traditional Handicrafts (Mudir d Wizarat d SiyaHa u Sine3a Tqlidya) is coming to town. Apparently he’s maki ...
11 reads

What a Week

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:08:28 +0800

(Morocco / It's me, an Arabic Book, and a Suitcase.)
It has been one of those weeks that makes a volunteer think they should may be just pack up and go home..... For starters I really didn't want to tell you all this but the Women's Walk for Internatio ...
8 reads

I thought we arrived on September 11 bu ...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:22:00 +0800

(Morocco / Ben @ Morocco, Peace Corps Round 2)
¼ Peace Corps**one-quarter finished if all things go according to schedule... no surprises or hiccups!Spring is on its way and in another month it will be 100 degrees and up each day. Instead of bur ...
7 reads

My Milkshake Brings All The Girls to The Yard

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:11:00 +0800

(Morocco / Emily in Morocco)
That's right- it's mine. The women's literacy project has been a huge success!!Whos got the right answer?This woman is just INSPIRING! She comes everday Samira handing out the text booksSamia doing her thing
10 reads

listening

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:44:00 +0800

(Morocco / 32n5w)
so when i said in the previous post that i really needed a mentor to tell me what i should do and what kind of possibilities are out there it occurred to me that maybe you could help with this!i was ...
8 reads

‘What am I doing here?’ Part 4 – Goal 2

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:09:00 +0800

(Morocco / Al Maghrib)
Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples servedI am working to promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of Moroccans. In working toward this Goal ...
0 reads

Cheese Making and Biking

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:14:00 +0800

(Morocco / Thoughts of a world traveler)
This month started off really crazy with the GRE and my asthma testing. I finally returned to site and hung out for awhile and then held a cheese making workshop for volunteers around the area. One ...
1 reads

No Way Out

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:53:00 +0800

(Morocco / Pita's Pocket)
I have been stuck the past 18 days in my site due to the fact that my site is located in a gorge the river flooding landslides falling rocks and the faulty engineering of roads. Luckily we still h ...
0 reads

How to make Maakouda. This spicy little ...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:21:00 +0800

(Morocco / The Whatchamacallit)
How to make Maakouda. This spicy little Moroccan pancake is one of the best things about going up north to Fes. More Moroccan cooking at Alia’s Cooking Website.
9 reads

It seems the ladies in my village are hi ...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:59:00 +0800

(Morocco / absolute uncertainty)
The New York Times has a new article about the rise of mothers using a sling instead of a stroller to transport their babies. Sorry hipster moms of New York but Moroccan ladies have been carrying th ...
8 reads

A Personal Cook Seriously?!

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:28:00 +0800

(Morocco / urbanpeacegirl)
Who knew Peace Corps would be this sweet? I mean seriously.I begin my day to sweetened mint tea at 7am. An hour later I walk to mdrasa or school with 4 fellow trainees. We begin language class of D ...
14 reads

If you’re not eating with your hand y ...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:20:11 +0800

(Morocco / Marj in Morocco :: مارج فالمغرب)
March 10 2010 Period. Fact. As stated by an old Tashlheit woman. Really what she said was something along the lines of “igh ur t-shit s-ufus uratshtat.” Thankfully she didn̵ ...
3 reads

My Peace Corps legacy

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:52:00 +0800

(Morocco / absolute uncertainty)
Today I randomly taught my counterpart the phrase "no dice " which he found rather amusing given the historical origins and Islam's general distaste towards gambling. I've now decided that my Peace C ...
1 reads

We have hot water

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:29:00 +0800

(Morocco / chris and jolie are loving life)
Top: Muchkil dressed in an orange and brown plaid doggy sweater sent from his Grandma Kihm in the States. Thanks grandma! It got here just in time for "Mooshy" to wear it for a week or so as the rai ...
11 reads

2/24/10 Adventures with Walnuts

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:17:00 +0800

(Morocco / Innocent A-Blogged)
My CBT village is down in the plains so has a much wider variety of fruit-bearing trees than can survive in Berberville my mountain aerie. While visiting we of course had to visit the igran – th ...
0 reads

3/8/10 Looking Ahead

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:15:00 +0800

(Morocco / Innocent A-Blogged)
Quote of the Month: "I have plans A through frickin' J."During our COS conference folks from my stage had plenty of opportunities to discuss post-Peace Corps plans. A few of us have clear things lin ...
4 reads

3/11/10 Smallboy (and yes that’s one word)

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:49:00 +0800

(Morocco / Innocent A-Blogged)
Among PCVs in my region “smallboy” has become a verb. Webster’s might define it as follows: to smallboy: to send a small male child in search of whatever is desired: food beverage ano ...
0 reads

3/10/10 Word of the Day: rizzo

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:46:00 +0800

(Morocco / Innocent A-Blogged)
As has been the pattern for the past few weeks I never get to have all three connectivity keys – electricity internet rizzo and cell phone rizzo – at the same time. Right now I have electrici ...
0 reads

3/9/10 Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:35:00 +0800

(Morocco / Innocent A-Blogged)
I haven’t tried this one on Moroccans yet but I’m guessing it’ll be a hit unlike most western food – it has nothing they don’t like and lots of things they do like meat and pastries. ...
0 reads

My Host Family

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:31:00 +0800

(Morocco / Monica's going to Morocco?)
My host family is great! I dont have much of big family I only have one sister and she is 17. Things are going alot better than I anticipated and I am a much happier person. Language lessons are going ...
4 reads

french keyboard = short (and misspelled) ...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:03:27 +0800

(Morocco / nomad, no problem.)
i am in ouarzazate right now for one night to have some meetings debriefing sessions on homestay and the beginning of training and my second rabies vaccine! yayy! (digression: not being allowed to p ...
6 reads

Are you Moroccan?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:03:00 +0800

(Morocco / "The Roaming Chicken")
Apparently I look Moroccan. And Muslim.
0 reads

Transformation

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:47:37 +0800

(Morocco / autostereogram)
What a contrast the past ten days have been! I accepted the volunteer invitation based on nothing more than generalized job descriptions and idealist values. But as I learn more about Morocco and my a ...
56 reads

From the Doorway To The Desert

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:23:00 +0800

(Morocco / "I Was Misinformed")
9 March 2010Yesterday marks exactly one week since staging but it already feels like a month. For the first few days of that we were kept too busy to make much use of the internet that we were ...
13 reads

Pre-Service Training: Becoming Learned week 1

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:10:48 +0800

(Morocco / The Rolling Gypsies)
We have been in country for exactly a week now and it feels like at least a month. Here is the quick logistical rundown so far.Wed March 3rd: Arrived in Casablanca and drove 2 hours to Marrakech. On ...
7 reads

The official Kookie Cake recipe

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:39:00 +0800

(Morocco / The Couscous Chronicles)
After three attempts at baking cakes that include couscous (the first one tasted great but was too sandy. The second was too bland and dry the third a little too dense and didn't rise) we'd run out ...
0 reads

Cynthia Berning Professional Olive Oil Taster

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:37:00 +0800

(Morocco / The Couscous Chronicles)
Another random addition to my list of newly-acquired skills a bit unexpected considering that my first year in Morocco I could not even eat olive oil straight with bread because it had such a strong ...
0 reads

Kicking off Biking Season

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:34:00 +0800

(Morocco / The Couscous Chronicles)
I have long suspected that my site is the perfect place for long bike trips. But the Peace Corps issues just one bike per volunteer and since my sitemate doesn't ever want to bike with me and bike t ...
5 reads

Curly ears are always better than normal ...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:32:00 +0800

(Morocco / The Couscous Chronicles)
So last week I bought a goat. My neighbors and I had been talking about getting a goat for awhile now basically I would make the initial investment then sell the babies to get my money back all t ...
1 reads

When the cows come home

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:29:00 +0800

(Morocco / The Couscous Chronicles)
I know I already used that cliché once already in my blog but I can't think of any other cow-related clichés at the moment. All the cows from Izzie-ville get taken out to graze every morning toget ...
0 reads

carbs carbs and more carbs

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:10:19 +0800

(Morocco / makethislast)
Vaccination #3: Typhoid Reunited and it feels so good! Today PCTs returned to their hub sites in Ouarzazate; Health sector met at the Gazelle Hotel (really now? “Gazelle” is a term used by men to ...
0 reads

Living with my host family.

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:59:00 +0800

(Morocco / Living the dream.)
I really cannot even begin to explain how drastically my life has changed in the last 8 days. I am overwhelmed just thinking about it.The real adventure began when we were assigned to our community ba ...
5 reads

bridging the Tashleheit-long lais divide

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:42:47 +0800

(Morocco / makethislast)
Last night was so windy that it blew the power out. Strong winds continued today so much so in fact that much of class was held in an unlit room and the windows rattled incessantly. Although I had a full day of class yesterday and was drained by the end of the day I didn’t sleep [...]
2 reads

Turkish toilets and home stay

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:19:41 +0800

(Morocco / makethislast)
Currently at: home stay #1 in Agouim Ouarzazate Morocco All moved out of the hotel in Ouarzazate. Half of my possessions are packed in Ouarzazate the other half traveled with me to home stay #1 in ...
2 reads

More thoughts on grants

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:23:00 +0800

(Morocco / absolute uncertainty)
I thought it was a little unfair of me to criticize grants without providing some suggestions to improve their sustainability. In my opinion the grant application should do more to force the applica ...
7 reads

Life is good

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:40:00 +0800

(Morocco / bri weaves)
I'm so behind I don't even know where to start! Beginning with now seems to be the only way. I'm hanging out in a café on my first day off in a long while that is actually relaxing (the past few were ...
9 reads

In which we celebrate women.

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:44:00 +0800

(Morocco / Shwiya b shwiya)
Ibtissame makes a card for her mother for International Women's Day. “Women are still the majority of the world’s poor unhealthy underfed and uneducated. They rarely cause violent conflicts but ...
1 reads

what on earth am i doing here?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:43:00 +0800

(Morocco / 32n5w)
hey team how's it going? for me not so well i must confess. [Grandma & Grandpa this post might be a little depressing. I'll let you know when i write something happier and you can skip to tha ...
107 reads

‘What am I doing here?’ Part 3 – Goal 1

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:31:00 +0800

(Morocco / Al Maghrib)
Peace Corps Goal 1 - Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and womenI am working to provide technical help to my community my province and Morocco a ...
9 reads

In the Middle of a Venn Diagram

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:09:00 +0800

(Morocco / Oh hey, I'm in Morocco.)
Listening to “Doo Wop (That Thing)” by Lauryn Hill. Remember that song? Weirdly close to my heart.Yesterday I jumped between two very different Moroccan worlds. Spent the morning in Rabat running ...
4 reads

Why?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:20:00 +0800

(Morocco / What Am I Doing Here?)
1 reads

Moroccan Beach Groove

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:32:14 +0800

(Morocco / Travel Blog | Peace Corps Rich)
Essaouira I have found one of the most beautiful cities on Earth. If you come to Morocco you MUST go to Essaouira With its white washed city walls its sprawling beaches its bustling medina packed w ...
21 reads

Blast from the Past/Paris: How to Make ...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0800

(Morocco / The Whatchamacallit)
Blast from the Past/Paris: How to Make Macarons (video in French) If you’ve never been to Gérald Mulot in Paris (near the Senate) make it a priority on your next visit.
7 reads

imik s imik

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:37:39 +0800

(Morocco / makethislast)
“Sfld 3awd jawb… Sfld 3awd jawb… Sfld 3awd jawb…” (Listen repeat jawb.) That’s pretty much what my LCF says to during each session. LCF thank you for your patience. llah irHm lwal ...
0 reads

A crisis of faith in the system

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:24:00 +0800

(Morocco / absolute uncertainty)
Most of the time I love my job. But there is one aspect of being a Peace Corps volunteer that I really dislike- the pressure to write successful grants. This pressure can be both internal and external ...
7 reads

International Women’s Day

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:21:30 +0800

(Morocco / Condensation)
Blogging to: Butterfly Bones – ‘Pretty Fellings” EP … CAT SLEEPING! In the midst of blogging about my cat I realized I had a topic I wanted to talk about at some point. Certai ...
8 reads